Plight of a Sorceress
by Enhas
Summary: A final message left by Ultimecia to Edea could change everything.


Author's Note: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or anything to do with it, and this is strictly a non-profit only thing.

This is my first (and probably only) Final Fantasy VIII fiction I have written. Just a quick one-shot, about Ultimecia and a message given to Edea shortly before her death. Ultimecia may not be who you expected, either.

* * *

Edea..

With my powers you have also received this message within your mind.. and it is of utmost importance that you heed my words, or many will die and suffer that need not to. I have a story to tell of a possible future that will come to pass if you do not listen to me.

I remember you, I remember it all now and it hurts so much. Time truly will not wait, and it really does escape you..

I have not heard my true voice for so long, without that cursed lisp infecting it..

I have lived for over three hundred years thanks to these cursed powers.. powers that were not given to me freely and I have abused them much to the anguish and hurt of many. I will finally be at peace, but the cycle will continue in the past indefinitely unless it can be broken.

I have possessed you before and I am sorry, even if in this time line I have not done it yet. Just know and realize that everything will work out for the best in the end, if you do not follow the wrong path. I have set the fate of the whole world on your shoulders.. my last act of remorse and redemption.

I feel like I am still insane.. how could I have ended up being the very thing I helped to destroy?

I am almost gone now, but I remembered who I used to be so long ago. I can see you in the flowers now.. it looks so colorful and full of life compared to the wasteland where my castle used to be.. where it will be if events do not change. Squall is also there, and I want to tell him everything and ask for forgiveness.. but I know that I cannot, not after all I have done.

If they all only knew what was going to happen to me, if I knew myself.. I would have asked them to put me down before I destroyed them. And I did.. one by one they fell. It had been many years since Time Compression and we had moved on with our lives. All of us had our own families, and I tore them apart.

The last one to fall was Squall. I had loved him once, and I suppose I still do in some ways. I remember part of our last conversation before he died.

"Why.. why did you do this?"

"I kreated Griever, and he showed me my true potential!" I said. True, I did create Griever but it was an accident.. a side effect of something I learned a long time ago. I began to hear his voice in my mind, and my thoughts and desires were slowly replaced with darkness and lust for power until my original self was completely gone. He twisted me into something I am ashamed of.. Ultimecia. But I am now free of him, even if only for these few remaining moments of my life..

"This isn't who you are! Ultimecia.. you may have stopped us but you will be defeated!"

"Perhaps.. but time kan be altered. I was one of _them_ and I still remember, it will not be the same this time! I have no need for Time Kompression, Skwall.. with all of you gone, I kan rule the world now!"

I was a fool.

I might have remembered then, but over the centuries the memories were lost to the twisted sorceress powers within me, and Griever. I did end up starting Time Compression because a small part of me still existed that _cared_.. it is really funny when I think about it. If I had not started Time Compression, I would still be sitting in my castle right now alone and bitter.. and nobody could have stopped me.

Time Compression was not about ruling the world, or the universe. It was to complete the circle and end my tyranny and evil, which spread across the entire world.

Squall had a gaping hole in his chest and would not last much longer. Now, Edea.. my identity will become clear in a moment. He was growing weaker by the minute, but still managed to be brave to the very end.

"You be.. betrayed all of us! You can't.. win, Quistis.."

Quistis Trepe, former Instructor, SeeD..

Traitor, and mass murderer.

Shockwave Pulsar is pure rage manifested. It is so dark, powerful and full of hatred.. but I loved it. When I learned it and first used it in Ultimecia's.. my castle, the rush of power was so exciting and empowering as I saw my enemies turn to dust. I think a part of my soul blackened each time I cast it.. and eventually Griever made himself known to me, and the rest is history. I know now why that magic should have remained forgotten.

Ironic, another circle of events. If only I did not find that knowledge..

I was already strong by all means with my Blue Magic and Griever, but nowhere near as powerful as I could have been with the powers of a sorceress. Once combined with my other powers, I could also live indefinitely and never age a single day.. which turned out to be an unnatural, hopeless existence. Over three centuries worth of life, and not one second of them amounted to anything.

The only sorceress alive was Rinoa Heartilly, who also had the powers of all sorceresses before her. I attacked and killed her first. With her powers, the others were no match for me.. I can still hear their screams. I had Griever nearly tear Squall limb from limb, after which I took his Griever ring as a memento of my victory over him and SeeD. It would not be the last.

I despise Griever.

I despise myself.

Eventually, I forgot who I even was. All I had to hold onto was hate.. and Griever provided plenty of it.

But right near the end, before Squall delivered the final blow with his Lionheart gunblade.. I remembered everything. When I think about it, I wish that I did not remember. Why of all people did I end up becoming Ultimecia? I had always suspected Rinoa, because she was the last sorceress.. and either she would become Ultimecia, or someone else that could inherit her powers will. The latter proved to be correct, but why did it have to be _me_? Rinoa was once one of my dearest friends.. and I murdered her in cold blood. I murdered them all. Rinoa, Squall, Zell, Irvine, Selphie.. even Seifer, who I had grown to love over the years. Now I know why I chose him of all men to serve as my Knight.

I have not been Quistis Trepe for hundreds of years.. Ultimecia and Griever killed her along with all of my friends, and she was the first to die in a long list of victims. I have only returned long enough to say goodbye.. all I ever wanted is to have a normal and peaceful life but I am part of a cruel time loop. Defeat a sorceress who apparently wanted to destroy all of time, only to be driven to insanity and darkness over the years by use of a forbidden Blue Magic.. which helped to defeat that sorceress, only later to become that sorceress yourself.

Edea, Matron.. forgive me. I strayed far from who "Quisty" used to be.. and I want to change all of this so that I never become Ultimecia and cause so much pain and death. I hate time, SeeD, Griever.. everything that made me into the lunatic I am. I love you, Matron.. and even though my memories were lost, I did not disturb your grave nor Cid's near my castle in the future. I always remembered your name, even though I did not know how or why. I have always considered you to be my mother, and you are my only hope.

Someone did figure out my secret, who I did not expect to: Ellone. Normally, she can only see the past.. but she cheated in a sense. A few years after your death, she sent herself into the past to look through your eyes. Something went wrong, and she had gone too far back.. back to the time I possessed you in my time line. Though most of my memories at that time were scrambled or lost, since I was in your body at that time.. Ellone saw pieces and fragments of them. Visions of the future, which is my past.

She was the first to know. She pleaded with the others, but they did not believe her at first.. until Rinoa was found dead. I was already too far gone at that time. I was lost the moment I cast my first Shockwave Pulsar, which gave birth to a malevolent Guardian Force who lived only for death and destruction.. though I did not know it until much later, when I was addicted to the power and _he_ began to speak with me with promises of power and visions of global domination. I realize now that it was _him_ in control the entire time, and not myself.. but that does not excuse my actions.

But now, Griever is dead and the knowledge of Shockwave Pulsar will die with me. I can only hope nobody else foolishly learns of and experiments with that terrible Blue Magic ever again. It is powerful, but comes at a great cost.. your very soul.

Matron, listen very carefully. A future version of Squall just told you all about SeeD and Garden, whose purpose is to defeat the sorceress.. namely, myself. Do _not_ listen to him no matter what you do. Do _not_ tell Cid or create any Gardens, or everything I have said will come to pass. If there is no SeeD, there will be no Ultimecia.. the ultimate predestination paradox. Ultimecia exists because of SeeD, and SeeD because of Ultimecia. I was once a SeeD and went off to defeat Ultimecia with five others, and discovered the might of Shockwave Pulsar near the end of our journey.. sending me down this endless cycle. I believe that time _can_ be changed.. I do not know if any previous versions of myself have attempted this and failed, but I need to try for all of our sakes. I have seen glimpses of a possible future during Time Compression, and while it is not exactly what I would call ideal.. it is much better than the alternative. My friends will all live, and Squall will even still meet Rinoa and fall in love. At one point, Adel will break free of her prison but she will be destroyed once and for all without much loss of life or damage.

SeeD is cursed. Without it, we could all have lived normal lives and not be robbed of our childhood to become mercenaries. Edea, please end all of this! I used to be little "Quisty" living in the orphanage, who cared about her friends.. I know she is with you right now. If not for me, please help her.. she does not deserve to go through all that I did. Curse SeeD for beginning all of this!

Do not let anyone know of Shockwave Pulsar, and if you ever find any information on it.. destroy it. May nobody ever fall under its tempting power again to bring Griever to life.

Goodbye, Matron. I am reaching out to you and am passing on now, and I have faith that you will make the right decision.

* * *

The Sorceress Edea sat in silence, watching the young Quistis play with her friend Selphie in the grass. She pondered what the future versions of two of her children had told her before they vanished.

Ultimecia's message was heartbreaking.. knowing that all of her children save one would supposedly die violent deaths, and the other would be the very person to murder them. But Squall did have a point.. even though she was a sorceress herself, Edea knew that some did lose their way and became a great danger to everyone. Adel was only the latest reminder of that sad fact.. and whether or not Sorceress Ultimecia did rise, another one could.

Squall and Seifer were playing with wooden sticks a few feet away, pretending they were knights with swords. Seifer tackled Squall and knocked him down, and both started to laugh while Quistis neared them and laughed at them as well. Edea treasured moments like those.. she could not have children of her own, and cared and loved them as much as if they were hers.

She did not know which side to choose. If she chose wrong, she could very well be aiding an evil sorceress in a plan to change time to prevent her defeat and further her causes.. or she could be condemning all of her children to death along with countless others.

SeeD, or no SeeD? Edea had no idea how an organization such as Squall described could be founded by herself and her husband, but according to him it was critically important to the future. On the other hand, Ultimecia claimed that SeeD was the catalyst to her existence and should not be created at all. Could she be trusted.. was Ultimecia truly once Quistis as she claimed, or was it all a ruse to play on Edea's feelings to trick her into doing her bidding?

Taking a few more minutes to carefully consider what Squall and Ultimecia had said, the Sorceress Edea reached a decision.. one that would decide the outcome of the entire world.

* * *

That's all. No, you don't know what Edea decided to do.. it's up to you. I've read quite a few "Rinoa is Ultimecia" stories, but I've almost never read any where Ultimecia is one of the other main female characters. Personally, I think that the Rinoa / Ultimecia theory is more likely than any others but I wanted to try something different for a change. It was intended for this story that Ultimecia actually _is_ Quistis, but it could also be a possibility that whoever she is.. she could have made the whole thing up to try and avert her defeat. Your call. 


End file.
